ABSTRACT
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the presence of female violinists in European musical life increased. Conservatories, being newly opened to female instrumentalists, improved their opportunities for professionalisation, which was as much a cause as it was a consequence of this development. At the Konservatorium der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, female violinists were first accepted in 1862. Among the first female violin students at the institute were Franziska Schön from Křenov and Eugenie Epstein from Prostějov. Both studied with Josef Hellmesberger, senior, one of the most eminent violin teachers of his day. Based on a corpus mainly consisting of concert reviews and institutional records, this chapter traces these two protagonists’ careers, paying attention to their participation in the Czech musical life. The primary aim is to outline the two violinists’ scopes of action in accordance with approaches from space theory, which I contextualize by discussing the reception of their activities.
